Maybe you're ready, but you're scared
by ethereal123
Summary: Flashback to that famous LP proposal in 505. What if Peyton said yes? Would things have been easier? Would they be happy right now? Or was it really too soon? LEYTON.
1. Waking up from the fairy tale

**Summary **

_Flashback to that famous LP proposal in 505. What if Peyton said yes? Would things have been easier? Would they be happy right now? Or was it really too soon? LEYTON. _

**Season 5's version of Lucas is driving me crazy, so I decided to re-write the story the way I wanted it to happen. This is basically for all of the LP fans out there. Please leave comments. **

Ethereal-123

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**Maybe you're ready, but you're scared****  
Chapter 1 – Waking up from the fairy tale**

_Peyton could do nothing more than watch him get on his knee and take the ring from her hands. She knew what was coming up and wasn't sure if she wanted __it to happen. _

" I know it's early, Lucas said right away, but… Peyton. Today was a great day and I was sitting in the bus and I realised that none of my great days matter without you. You're the one I want next to me when my dreams come true, and you're the one I want next to me when they don't, because as long as I have you, nothing else matters."

" I… Luke…" she mumbled. Slowly, Lucas opened the box and she could see the most beautiful ring. The blonde couldn't take her eyes off it. 

" I know it won't be easy", she heard him whisper, "but I'm willing to sacrifice anything for you. Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer, will you marry me?" As he locked his eyes with hers, Peyton couldn't think of anything but her love for that wounded writer. She could hear her conscience call her to reality, plead her to stop this. _**Haven't you learned anything from Naley's rushed marriage? You're both only 19. **___

" I would love to", she heard herself reply. The rest of it was a fairy tale. Her charming prince passed the shiny ring on her finger and took her in the most passionate kiss. They went back home in Tree Hill and celebrated they union. Then they woke up.

XxX

Peyton was the first to open her eyes. Next to her was laying a gorgeous boy. Smiling, she put her hand on his chest, thinking he was hers, and laughed at her stupid dream. That's when she noticed a ring on her finger. Lucas opened his eyes. 

" Hey gorgeous", he smiled. 

" Did we really get married?" Was the first think Peyton asked. Smiling, Lucas sat up in bed. 

"We did", he replied. Peyton sat up as well and fixed the wall. She couldn't believe it. It was a wonderful dream, true, but could they really do this? Neither one of them had a stable job, they lived in two different cities. How could they be so stupid? 

" Are you okay?" Lucas worried.

" I can't believe it", Peyton simply said and got off the bed. Lucas passed his hand in his hair and watched his girlfriend, now wife, lock herself in the bathroom. Sighting, he got up as well. It's been one week now. One week they've been married, one week he was dealing with Peyton's panic. Why couldn't she trust in their love the way Haley did? Knowing she wouldn't get out any time soon, he went out for a run. 

As he ran through the streets, Lucas couldn't help but think about Peyton's words. As much as he hated to admit it, she was right. Brooke had conquered the world with her label, Nathan was slowly becoming a star, Haley was perfectly handling both her studies and being a mother, and then there he was, an unsigned writer who couldn't even get his book published, and a now, thanks to his rushed marriage, married to an unemployed women. Peyton wouldn't miss a chance to remind him how she now had nothing to hold on to. _At least I had a shot_, she stubbornly repeated every time Lucas reminded her how much her job sucked, _all I had to do is be patient_.

XxX

Peyton heard him slap the door and got out of the bathroom. She knew he was hurt, but hell, this was all happening because of him. He knew she would be paralysed by his eyes. He knew she would say yes. He tricked her, brought her back home so he could have her all for himself. What a selfish little…

" Peyton." The blonde turned around as Haley got in the room. She was making the bed when the brunette showed up. 

" Haley", she greeted the girl. "So we're sisters now, right? You can come whenever you want, she said with irony. Please, seat yourself." Haley rolled her eyes. 

" Damn it, and he chose **you**?" A familiar voice said. Peyton stopped her actions and turned around.

"Brooke?" She asked, not believing her eyes. 

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What did you think? Let me know!

- Ethereal-123


	2. Friends or enemies?

**Summary **

_Flashback to that famous LP proposal in 505. What if Peyton said yes? Would things have been easier? Would they be happy right now? Or was it really too soon? LEYTON. _

**Thank you all for the reviews. **

Intarverbs : Thanks for pointing that out. I arranged it. Hope it's easier now. 

LP4Life4ever : Awn I'm glad you're liking it. Yea I hope so too, because LP are sooo the IT couple. Lol I'm not sure of the ending yet ( which is why I too am hoping) Anyways keep reading and reviewing! ( I fixed the dialogue problem) 

Lostand1TreeHillfan : Thanks. Glad ur liking it, and glad ur a drama lover. Because it's my speciality. Lmao. ****

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**Maybe you're ready, but you're scared  
Chapter 2 – Friends or enemies?**

Brooke simply stood there, looking stunningly gorgeous as always. The blonde quit making the bed and turned to face her once bestfriend. Where did they stand? She couldn't even remember when was the last time they spoke, even less **what** they spoke about. 

- "So you've heard?" She simply said as she pointed the messy room. There was not a person on earth for who Peyton wished Brooke's success, other than Brooke herself, however, it also made her feel like an even bigger loser. 

-"I heard", Brooke simply replied. Deep down she knew she was intimidating Peyton with all her success although it was the last of her intentions.

-"I see you're back to your emo artwork" She said with a wink, noticing the beautiful drawings laying everywhere around the room. Peyton sighted loudly and let herself fall on her bed. 

-"What do you want?" She asked coldly. Brooke stood quiet. _What did she want?_ What kind of a warm welcome was that? She shared a look with Haley who seemed to tell her _I told you so. _Before she could reply, the door swung open again. They all turned around except for Peyton who already knew who it was by the way he turned the doorknob. There wasn't a single thing about Lucas Scott that Peyton wouldn't recognize. 

-"Brooke?" Lucas asked in a breath, still recovering from his morning run. 

-"Hey Luke, long time no see", she said with a smile. The blonde opened his arms and she though it would be impolite not to hug him. Haley, standing on the other side, discretely looked at Peyton's reaction. Who would think Peyton will one day switch place with Brooke in the insecurity game? 

-"I heard you're a star now" He joked. 

- "And I heard you're married" Brooke replied. Lucas's smile vanished right away. He sadly looked over at Peyton who suddenly got up. 

- "Well", she said, "I don't want to interrupt", before grabbing her coat and leaving the house. Lucas sighted. 

-"I'll just…" Brooke started and ran to catch up with Peyton, leaving both Scotts alone in the house. 

- " Don't worry Luke. It will all get better" Haley told him. Lucas laid his back on the wall and looked at his bestfriend. Who was she trying to convince? 

XxX

"Peyton!" Brooke screamed as the blondie had reached her car. 

"Go away Brooke" She told her without even bothering to look over.

" Why did you say yes in the first place?" She asked angrily, which made Peyton stop halfway as she was about to get in her car and drive… God knew where. 

"Look at me Brooke", she said, " I'm a mess". "No job, no house, no parents… I had nothing, I still have nothing, but Lucas's love."

" Baby that's not exactly true…" Brooke softened. 

" You know why he proposed, Brooke? Because I do." Peyton waited and, as her friend remained silent, she kept going on.

" We only saw each other tree times this past year. We were loosing touch, and were both aware of it. He panicked. This proposal was his way of bringing me back home, of making sure I was his."

" Don't you understand, Brooke? If I had said no, he would have dumped me. I would have lost the one person who still made me feel like I was someone. The one person who truly cared." Her voice was becoming weaker as she kept going. " I was trapped. I had no choice…" " And now…" 

" And now you're about to loose him for good" Brooke completed for her. 

"What?"

" You just said it Peyton. You had to choose between your career and Lucas, and you picked Luke. Keep blowing him off like that and you'll be an unemployed **divorced **looser" Peyton kept staring at her friend as if she couldn't accept that these harsh words were coming from her mouth. Sighting, Brooke turned around and left, leaving her alone with her brooding. 

She knew she was hurting Peyton, but someone had to make her realise her mistakes. Peyton needed to be shaken up. Sympathy wasn't going to save her. She needed someone to tell her the truth, and that's what friends were here for, right? Hearing her cell phone ring, she picked it up. "Tree Hill. Yes. No. I'm going to have to stay for a while." 

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That's it for now. Tell me what you think, it's really appreciated.

- Ethereal-123


	3. The Scott gene

**Thank you all for the reviews.**

jamyj30 : I'm glad you are enjoying this. Keep giving me your thoughts!

LP4Life4ever : I didn't mean for Brooke to be a bitch in this story, I love her too much! But hey, someone else could take over her role as a wedding menace, right?

Mels175 : Awn. And I hope they get married in the actual show! Lol. Thanks for reading and I'm a huge LPer so you shouldn't get too worried about them. But if you knew me better you would know how much I loooove drama… so… yea.. hehe.

******Maybe you're re****ady, but you're scared  
Chapter 3 – The Scott gene**

She turned around, fuming, and sat in her car. Brooke had no idea what she was talking about. She wasn't the tied one. Hell, the ways things were going, Peyton wouldn't be surprised if Brooke bought a huge house all by herself in a few years. That girl was rich and successful, and had no idea what she had to go through.

As she drove the car with no specific mean, she found herself on the same path where she once almost ran over Lucas. What was this ball doing in the middle of the street? Great, she was delusional now. As Peyton was about to hit what she though was an imaginary ball, a blonde haired kid made her suddenly hit the breaks. The boy picked up the basketball and held it up, fixing Peyton. He didn't look much bigger than the ball itself.

Peyton got out of the car, her heart pounding in her chest. How could she let her anger guide her actions like that? She could have killed this kid right about now. Before she had the time to place a couple of reassuring words or apologies, someone rushed in front of her.

"Oh my god, Jamie!" He screamed in this worried voice of his, mixed with an anger he couldn't hide as he picked up the boy. It was only when he made sure the kid was fine that he turned around and got a better look of who had almost killed his only chid. They simply stared at each other. Peyton looked at the perfect father-son frame in front of her and dug her hands farther in her jacket's pockets.

"They did warn me you have become violent…" Nathan smiled uneasily. Peyton smiled back.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry…" She apologised. "He just popped out of nowhere and God he's adorable!" She said, unable to hold it longer and willing to be introduced to the nice-looking little man. Nathan laughed at her suddenness.

"Oh, Jamie" He told his son, "I want you to meet your aunt Peyton." The curly haired girl glared at him speechless. Did he just call her aunt? Was she really someone's family?

"Payn" Was all Jamie was able to repeat. Peyton snapped back.

"No, not pain" Nathan corrected him, "Pey-ton".

"Payn!" Repeated angrily Jamie. The concerned girl laughed and winked at Nathan.

"It's okay" She told the boy, "You can call me pain. After all, I really am one" She turned to look at the father.

"He got the Scott gene for sure" She smiled.

"Oh yea" Nathan replied proudly. "His first word was ball!"

"Oh my God already?" She laughed. "You guys have a thing with that sport, it's scary." She stopped a moment. "Can I hold him?" She asked. Nathan looked unsure.

"He's not very welcoming with strangers" He explained. "You got to introduce yourself a couple of times before he…" As he spoke, Peyton extended her arms and Jamie almost jumped in them, laughing loudly. The blonde haired winked at Nathan.

"Scott boys just love me" She bragged. He rolled his eyes, amused.

"Maybe you should get your car out of the way though" He said as Peyton's Comet was still in the middle of the street. She looked at it.

"The keys are still in" She told him. "Why don't you bring it to the river court? I got some catch-up to do with my nephew."

"It used to be me who bossed you around" Nathan whined as he walked to the car. Peyton rolled her eyes, still holding Jamie tightly.

"So Jamie" She asked him, "you play b-ball like daddie?"

XxxxxX

As Jamie was shower her his jump-shots, Peyton heard the noise of her car and Nathan appeared.

"How come it took you so long?" She asked him suspiciously. "You had the car and I had the kid!"

"I wanted to leave you some alone time with Jamie" He replied as he sat next to her on the bench. Peyton nodded and cheered at Jamie who almost touched the net with the ball.

"You want to talk about it?" Nathan asked with a whole different voice. Peyton took her eyes off Jamie and looked at the older Scott for a moment.

"About what?" She asked, although she had a pretty good guess.

"I know why you freaked out on Lucas" He told her. "Believe me, no one could get what you're going through better than Haley and I" Peyton grinned.

"Looked like hell from where I stood" She replied.

"You must have had bad seats" Nathan replied, "Because from where I was it was heaven". Peyton opened her eyes in disbelief.

"Nathan you went nutts!" She reminded him. "You weren't going to school anymore. "We're better off, love sucks" remember when you told me these words?" Peyton quoted him, referring to the days when Haley had left on tour with Chris Keller.

"Yes, I do" Nathan admitted. "But I also remember the voice in me who always knew she'll come back. I remember the day she did and how great I felt. I remember that bachelor party Tim had organised and well horribly well" He laughed, "And I remember when Haley said no to her dreams so I could have mines." Peyton looked down. She did remember all of these events as well.

"And I remember the day she gave me Jamie" He smiled. The ball was rolling toward them and Jamie came to pick it up. Peyton looked at him as he ran back toward with joy. Nathan noticed a tear on Peyton's cheek and carefully wiped it off.

"It's hard" He said. "That, I'll never lie about. But believe me when I tell you it's worth it." Peyton simply nodded her head as she stupidly felt other tears.

******XxxxxXxxxX  
**

**I'm sorry it took me so long. Hope you're still into the story! And I feel like there's not enough Jamie-Peyton bonding in the actual season 5, so yea, this is how I think their relationship should have been.**

**Give me some feedbacks plz!!**

**-Ethereal**


	4. Revelations

**Thank you all for the reviews. I got this habit of always answering them one by one lol it's my way of thanking you guys for taking the time to comment.**

jamyj30 : Humm you'll find out soon.

Mels175 : I am hating season 5 more and more each episode. It's killing me… So yea anyways, hope you'll enjoy this.

LP4Life4ever : Lol she's currently too busy being a looser in love with a coward to bond with Jamie. (Sorry for harsh words) Season five is killing me. I'm glad you are enjoying the story. I love NP bonding too. Ok so whatever I do with Brooke, you won't be mad? Good to know!

SPN-OTHlover : Glad you do! Here you go for the update.

qwert1206 : Yea! Happy to hear it.

Slick101 : Thanks. Here's the update.

******Maybe you're re****ady, but you're scared  
Chapter 4 – Revelations**

Lucas turned off the ignition after he had parked his car in front of the house and stepped out. On his way to the front door, he noticed Peyton's car and sighted, his conversation with Brooke still fresh in his mind. "You can't go all Naley on her Luke" She had screamed at him, "Peyton's got commitment issues, where have you been these last five years?"

Grinning, he turned the doorknob and walked in. His annoyed quickly turned to worry as he noticed the darkness in the house. Peyton's car was outside, why would all the lights be off? He reached the power switch on the wall and pushed it: nothing. The power was probably off, Lucas figured.

"Peyton?" he called as he walked in the quiet house. Peyton's loud music was also missing. As he approached the living room, Lucas could feel warmth and quickly realised that it was caused by the candles Peyton has put there.

"Someone's home late" A voice said. When Lucas turned around, he faced a whole different Peyton. She was wearing a jeans mini-skirt with a red moulding shirt that had a few buttons undone… and she was smiling.

"Excuse me" Lucas told her, "But have you seen my wife?" Peyton rolled her eyes, quite amused. Her husband walked closer and looked above her shoulder and back at her.

"She's as stunning as you" He said, "But more like the brooding type". He received at hit on the stomach.

"Hey she does that a lot too!" He said.

"Okay I got it" Peyton told him in surrender. He smiled at her.

"Where have you been?" He asked, serious this time.

"On the 19 years old panicked wife's island" Peyton replied. Lucas sighted.

"It's my fault" He confessed. "I panicked. I though I would loose you. I…"

"No" Peyton cut him. "No, you were right. You did the right thing and I'm glad you did it."

"…you are?" She nodded, her hands on his shoulder.

"I love you" Peyton whispered, "And if marrying you means letting go of my bad-ass coffee distributor job in L.A, then I'm ready to sacrifice that" Lucas let out a laugh and came back to serious.

"I love you too" He replied, "And I promise you that I'll never let you abandon your dreams. We'll just do it from here, okay?" Peyton pulled him closer and closed the gap between them.

"Okay" She whispered as she let go. "I made dinner" She smiled.

XxX

"So how was your day?" Lucas asked as they were eating their meal in front of the candle lights.

"I met our nephew" Peyton replied.

"Really you met Jamie?" "Isn't he adorable?" Peyton frowned.

"Are you sure you did nothing with Haley while I was in L.A. Because between you and I, he looks a lot like you…" Lucas laughed.

"I hope you're not serious" He replied. Peyton was still looking at him.

"I want to hear you say it" He rolled his eyes.

"I did not cheat on you with my sister-in-law" He replied with irony, clearly showing how he found this ridiculous. "Happy?"

"Yes very much" Peyton replied as she stuck up her tongue. "And how about you, any news today?" Lucas's smile grew bigger.

"Oh there was this one phone call…" He said, "Nothing big.."

"Uh-hum…" Peyton encouraged him to go on. Lucas looked at her.

"I'm getting my book published" he finally let out.

******XxxxxXxxxX  
**

**Yey Leyton interaction! Someone else will soon come in the picture… Maybe some of you have a guess of the identity of that person…**

**-Ethereal**


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